Basic Concept of Research Flashcards
Careful and systematic investigation in some field of knowledge undertaken to discover or establish facts and principles
Research
the emphasis in obtaining evidence to support or refute proposed facts or principles
Scientific research
concerned with developing, exploring or testing the theories or ideas that social researchers have about how the world operates
Research is THEORETICAL
Based on observations and measurements of reality
Research is EMPIRICAL
a comparison of our theories about how the world operates with our observations of its operations
Research is BOTH THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL
laws or rules that pertain to the general case
Nomothetic
refers to laws or rules that relate to individual
Idiographic
error in reasoning, usually based on mistaken assumptions
fallacy
one make conclusions about individuals based only on analyses of group data
ecological fallacy
when a person reach a group conclusion on the basis of exceptional cases
exception fallacy
scientific method provides another way of obtaining information that is
ACCURATE and RELIABLE
experiment yields the same result on repeated trials
Reliability
freedom from mistake or error; conformity to truth
Accuracy
conducted to investigate issues relevant to the confirmation or disconfirmation of theoretical or empirical positions
Basic (fundamental or pure) research
main motivation of basic research
to expand man’s knowledge
major goal of basic research
to acquire general information
designed to solve practical problems of the modern world rather than to acquire knowledge
Applied research
goal of applied research
to improve the human condition
anything that a person finds unsatisfactory or unsettling
Research Problem
a state of affairs that needs to be change or improve
Research Problem
fuel that drives the scientific process, and is the foundation of any research method
Defining a research problem
Sources of Research Ideas
experiences
theory
applied issues
curiosity about the causes or determinants of behavior
unsystematic observation
a planned observation;
researcher decides what and how to observe
systematic observation
a set of assumptions about the causes of behavior and rules that specify how those causes act
theories
research ideas arise from the need to solve practical problems
applied issues
potential researchability of the problem which makes it a good subject of scientific injury
feasibility of the research problem
characteristic of good research problem
SMART
Scientific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-sensitive
connection or association between two or more characteristics or qualities
Relationship
worthy of investigation
Significant
on that can be investigated with available resources
Feasible
three essential ways to clarify terms in the research question
Constitutive Definition
Definition by example
Operational definition
require that researchers specify the actions or operations necessary to measure or identify
Operational definition
not involve physical or psychological harm or damage to human beings
Ethical
measurable characteristics that changes from one individual or one setting to another
variable
specific value on a variable
attribute
uses words or concepts to define a variable
Conceptual definition
what one has learned from formal instruction
achievement
one’s capability for performing a particular task or skill
aptitude
indication of the meaning of a variable through specification of the manner by which it is measured, categorized or controlled
Operational definition
consists of categories or attributes which have non-numerical characteristics
Qualitative variable
consists of numbers representing counts or measurements
Quantitative Variable
results from either a finite number of possible values or countable number of possible values
Discrete Quantitative Variable
result from infinitely many possible values that can be associated with points on a continuous scale in a way that there are no gaps or interruptions
Continuous Quantitative Variable
researcher chooses to study in order to assess their possible effect on one or more other variables
Independent Variables
independent variables also called as
experimental or treatment variable
variable affected or expected to be affected by independent variable
Dependent variables
Dependent variables also called as
criterion or outcome variable
those that affect the dependent variable but are not controlled adequately by the researcher
Extraneous variables
confounding variable or factor also referred to as
confounder or a lurking variable
a specific statement of prediction
hypothesis
it describes in concrete terms what a researcher expect will happen in the study
Hypothesis
support the existence of relationship between two variables
Alternative hypothesis (HA or H1)
prediction that support the non-existence of relationship between two variables
Null hypothesis
